In their traditional construction such saddlery body straps have been made of leather, but other materials have also been used and, in particular, the use of carefully selected materials based on various synthetic plastics has found some favour in recent times. Also, it is known o incorporate padding or cushioning materials in the construction of such body straps in order to improve comfort and reduce the risk of chafing and injury to the body of the horse.
In producing such body straps, however, it is also frequently necessary to ensure that their overall resilient stretching characteristics or elasticity under tensile load falls within closely defined limits. This can be a general requirement, but control of this overall elasticity combined with a high breaking strength can be especially important when the strap is likely to be subjected to high and variable tensile loading, as for instance in the case of a cinch used for securing a "Western type" saddle on a horse which may take part in very energetic activities like rodeo riding.
By way of example, in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,055 there is disclosed a body strap of equestrian harness or saddlery equipment made up basically of a tubular webbing sheath which is formed of woven yarn composed of staple fibres of synthetic polymer material and which is filled with an insert of foam expanded plastics materials to provide cushioning characteristics, end straps carrying strap fastening fittings such as buckles being secured to the ends of the sheath, and the overall elasticity is controlled by securing to the sheath discontinuous reinforcing band or strip portions having an elasticity or resilient stretch less than that of the sheath material. With the construction described, however, the ultimate breaking strength is limited to that of the webbing sheath and in general this form of construction has been found to be capable of improvement for at least some special purpose body straps.